Learn the Basics
There are many companies that provide financial education. Some of the best education and training can be had for free or very limited outlays of money. We recommend that anyone do diligence about financial education before spending a dime.
Be especially aware of infomercial pitches on television offering you painless, instant mastery of the craft. Really good educators generally do very limited and directed advertising because they rely mostly on word-of-mouth from their experienced students to gain new business.
We'll have basic outlines for the topics you will need to take on to get some basic education and provide links and excerpts from free and low-cost sources. The internet is a fabulous delivery system and it can deliver all ranges of quality.
The biggest threat to your success in investing and trading lies between your ears. Generally no market or operator can take your money away from you faster than you. Even Bernie Madoff (I think we can use his name because he was definitely convicted) can't take your money and lose it unless you let him.
One resource we use is the Investors Business Daily. This is a subscription service available in paper or online versions that provides research and education on a particular set of approaches to investing.